Archives / Tag: Design

Pretty pleased with this one, we just launched a lovely little site at Nine Four for our client Design & Contract Interiors. Mobile first, responsive, clean and simple… running on ExpressionEngine.

Bit of a ‘work in progress’ as we’re slowly updating all the legacy site images with nice new high res shots but something I’ve thoroughly enjoyed working on these past few months, brings back memories of my days at Berkshire College of Art & Design where I studied furniture design as part of the multidisciplinary 3 Dimensional Studies ND and HND. :)

This little gem is going to become real annoying real quick. In Safari on iOS 7 clicking anywhere in the bottom ~40px of the screen does not register as a click on the web page as you would expect, instead it prompts Safari to reveal the ‘nav bar’, only then once the ‘nav bar’ has become visible and pushed your content up the page will clicks in that area register. I’ve logged a bug on Radar and Open Radar.

Of course by the time a user has clicked once (which apparently results in something other than that which was expected) and not gotten what they asked for they probably surmise that the link/website is broken and give up on the interaction they were attempting.

Genius!

And yes, I know… NDA.

Adobe Fireworks is dead

I can’t say I’m surprised to see Adobe kill Fireworks, despite my continuous ranting and raving, despair and campaigning I still have fond memories of what was once a breakthrough application for web designers (back in the Macromedia days).

So what next? Is there a tool out there right now that can replace Fireworks? Not quite – but there ‘are’ some really promising indie apps which get real close. Go invest some of your hard earned cash in one, contribute by telling the developers what works and what doesn’t and bask in that warm feeling you get from using software produced by a company that cares about it’s customers.

We all know it… it’s been a common accepted fact for far too long. We’ve been talking about the lack of interest from app developers at a regular local meet-up and decided it was about time we did something positive about it.

Project Meteor is a campaign for the web design app we all need, if you agree that current tools don’t cut it – visit the site and add your voice to the campaign by tweeting for the cause.

As a one time evangelist of Flash it’s interesting to see new tools floating to the surface over the course of the past few months. As browsers become more capable of delivering animation and effects without the need for plug-ins like the Adobe Flash Player I think this market will become increasingly competitive.

I’ve not had a chance to sit down and look at any of these tools in earnest, indeed some of them are not even available to download yet but I thought it would be worth creating a brief list and adding to it as time goes by. For now at least here’s the current crop of HTML5/CSS3 animation tools which I’ve stumbled across:

• Animatable – http://animatable.com/
• Edge (from Adobe would you believe!) – http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/edge/
• Hype – http://tumultco.com/hype/
• Radi – http://radiapp.com/
• Sencha Animator – http://www.sencha.com/products/animator/

It will be interesting to see how these applications develop over the coming months and whether any on them particular gain traction with the community as the ‘go to’ tool for online animation, just as Flash did back in it’s glory days. Let me know if you’ve seen a tool that I’ve missed and I’ll add it to the list! :)

The fact that just over a month after switching from Santander to HSBC I’m already compiling a list of annoyances with their ‘online’ banking system says something I guess. Maybe I’m a bit of a moaner or maybe I just expected more from someone that claims their online banking system is ‘award winning’.

• Standing Orders: Don’t be fooled in to thinking that you are actually adding, editing and deleting your standing orders ‘online’. The reality is that changes are not live despite what the online banking interface might lead you to believe. The reality is that an email request is sent to some chap somewhere is HSBC and he manually processes these requests as and when he’s at his desk. Heaven forbid you might want to change a standing order on a weekend or any other time when ‘stand order man’ is away from his desk… you’ll just have to wait an unknown amount of time for the change to happen, meanwhile you’re in standing order limbo unaware of if the change you requested is actually going to happen or not.

• Beneficiaries: Want to use the HSBC online banking system to maintain a beneficiary list where two beneficiaries might have the same sort code and account number, forget it. You can’t do that. As much as I hate to say it – even Santander could manage this one. The problem here isn’t so much that the ‘legacy system’ behind the front end can’t handle multiple beneficiaries with the same account number and sort code, the problem is the user interface… rather that spouting a useless error code (HE7) at me why not just tell me what the problem is and advise as to how I can work around it.

This is an ongoing list which I’ll no doubt be adding to!

I’ve got a Dribbble invite going spare. Leave a comment and a link to something awesome you’ve designed if you fancy an in. I’ll pick a lucky recipient at the end of the week. Oh and you can find me on Dribbble at http://dribbble.com/players/nathanpitman. :)

Over the past few months I’ve been working with the team at Voyage to develop and deliver their shiny new website. On the high of having the website complete they foolishly invited me to christen it with it’s inaugural headline and tell you a little bit about the journey we’ve taken from concept to reality.

Unlike a large number of agencies out there Voyage know what they do best. They have a team with supreme creativity and they leverage those skills to provide clients with creative solutions that deliver results across a wide variety of mediums. This is what makes working with Voyage as a partner so exciting. You know that the creative solution they propose is more than likely going to challenge the norm and push you to deliver something that breaks the mould.

Working to develop a web driven solution that the Voyage team have proposed is always an enjoyable task, the more enjoyable the task is, the more involved you become in it and for that you get a much better end result. In short, everyone wins.

Right from the start Voyage were very clear about the creative approach they wanted to take with their own website; incorporating a large horizontal canvas rather than the typical ‘vertical scroll’ that we’re all used to. It was also very clear that simplicity was going to be a key factor with ‘God‘ very much being ‘in the details‘ (Ludwig Mies van der Rohe).

We faced a number of technical challenges in marrying a horizontal layout with the dynamic ‘content managed’ nature of the website. Voyage wanted to be able to add, edit and remove pretty much any piece of content on the website through a web based administration system (Expression Engine) and it was this ‘dynamism’ which created problems for us.

Never knowing how many columns a headline might require, or how many work examples might appear on the home page at any given time certainly gave us some headaches but we knew that we couldn’t compromise on the creative approach and so we didn’t, instead we persisted and found solutions to the problems.

I’d like to think that the end result does a great deal to communicate what Voyage is about and that it will provide the company with the platform they hoped for to showcase their creative work. It has been a pleasure to work with the Voyage team on this project, they have high standards and know ‘exactly’ what they’re after. Good to know if you’re a prospective or current client of theirs. :)

Jon Hicks sort of started a meme, be it unintentionally.

Suffice to say I couldn’t resist making a small Designers Republic inspired contribution of my own. :)

Without so much as a hint Flickr just went all Gamma on us. Finally out of Beta? That little tag was almost a part of the brand itself you know.

The navigational changes make sense, but getting used to them will take a few days. Of particular note is the fantastic new ‘“Organizer”:http://www.flickr.com/photos/organize/’ no longer with any added Flash.

Congrats to the Flickr team on a great update.

Another website I’ve been working on recently just went live. Pro-Bel produce control, signal distribution and innovative automation solutions for the broadcast market.

I rolled their new website using Expression Engine for Content Management. It’s a great off the shelf CMS with huge flexibility so I’m feeling like I made the right decision in selecting it way back in October. :)

I just finished up working on a website this week for a new client (Smile Photography), still a fair bit of placeholder copy about. The ingredients; XHTML/CSS, Bespoke Content Management, Auto Thumbnailing of Event Photos, all that kinda jazz.

I’m pretty happy with it, I’m in love with the simplicity and cleanliness and I think that’s just what’s required for a site which will primarily be used by visitors once only to browse and order prints.

Just a couple of Basecamp themes I’ve put together.

Header Background: #72AA1D
Project Name: #fff
Client Name: #000
Current Tab Text: #000
Tab Background: #B8D48E
Tab Text: #000
Tab Hover Background: #FFCC00
Tab Hover Text: #000
Links: #8C8C8C

Header Background: #7B007B
Project Name: #FFD52C
Client Name: #fff
Current Tab Text: #7B007B
Tab Background: #B340B3
Tab Text: #fff
Tab Hover Background: #990099
Tab Hover Text: #FFD52C
Links: #03c

Slim devices have just announced the third gen Squeezebox, designed by Fred Bould the new form is just stunning. Where the 1st and 2nd gen Squeezbox’s were plastic and clunky this regains some of the poise and character which the 1st generation SliMP3 player had.

The design combines brushed aluminium, solid steel and a highly polished surface through which you can view the 320×32 pixel greyscale display. Excellent, I want one!

I think I’ve noticed a bit of a new thing (Actually someone else probably noticed it first). Animated favicons. I first spotted this neat little twist over at Poke London and then this morning I spotted one over at Dare too.

Well now I gotta get me one of them. Seen any others?

What a week, first we had the Xbox 360, then the PlayStation 3, and now the Nintendo Revolution. Well I think without doubt the Nintendo wins on aesthetics.

What a ‘beautiful’ piece of hardware, I bet the PlayStation design team are kicking themselves, this is really what I expected from them. It’s sleek, is the size of a stack of three DVD cases and has no visible knobs, buttons or ports for joysticks. The system will use only wireless controllers, and it sits flat or stands vertically.

Ok so the Revolution pretty much loses the fight in terms of processing power but as Nintendo’s Perrin Kaplan says: “It’s not all about having ‘turbo power’, It’s about what you do with it.”

Sony have officially unveiled the PlayStation 3. Where the Xbox 360 is ‘apparently’ based on the concept of ‘inhaling’ (WTF?) the PS3 looks more like it exhaled.

My initial response to the product design late last night was one of disappointment, I don’t think the PS3 has the ‘ooh’ factor which the Xbox 360 has, but then the PS2 was such a beautiful product, this is an evolution in design terms rather than the revolution that the 360 is compared to it’s predecessor.

There’s a ton of other related news over at ign.com RE PS3 specs, Sony’s partnership with NVidia, launch dates and backwards compatability.

Microsoft have officially unveiled the Xbox 360, wireless controllers and all. Looks pretty neat but from what I hear it’s a bit of a beast (size wise) much like the original Xbox. That thing was pretty handy for holding open doors.

In a surprising twist, a Sony representative has stated that a year 2005 release for the next generation PlayStation (PS3) is a possibility. Whether that is something Sony can pull out the bag or not remains to be seen, I guess we’ll have a better idea when Sony reveal more about the PS3 at the E3 show early next week.

I just finished working on ‘another’ site for the wife of a cohort of mine. Mrs Tiffany Kemp runs a commercial management business called Devant. Much like her husbands website, the devant site needed a re-fresh, so that’s what we did, and this is the end result.

Let me know what you think.

I just finished working on a site for a cohort of mine. Mr Simon Kemp is perhaps the best wedding & portrait photographer ever but his old website just didn’t cut the mustard. We did a bit of a deal and this is the result.

Let me know what you think.

I’ve been playing about with some ideas for the re-design in Fireworks…

So, I’m doing a live re-design. But… before I ditch my CSS and start fiddling with the page markup I want to take stock of what’s here and decide what will stay, and what will go. At present the site is split into three primary sections; ‘blog’, ‘source’ and ‘bio’, each of which contain sub sections:

• home

• blog (latest)

  • archive
  • feeds

• source (overview)

  • dreamweaver extensions
  • fireworks extensions (and source FLAs)
  • flash extensions
  • store (?)

• bio (overview)

  • curriculum vitae
  • contact

I’m keen to follow the ‘KISS’ approach for this re-design so it’s out with anything no one ever looks at and time to focus on the worthwhile bits.

Here’s what the revised structure might look like:

• home (main blog content)

• blog (archived by month and category)

• source (?)

• bio (overview)

  • curriculum vitae
  • contact

So, I’m pretty clear regarding the blog and bio sections, ‘bio’ will remain pretty much as is, ‘blog’ will be simplified to make finding what you’re after easier and quicker, but ‘source’… I have no idea… does anyone use this stuff? Let me know what you think.

Apple announced two ‘amazing’ new products at Macworld today! They never cease to amaze, although I still reserve judgement on the nasty iMac.

First up is the Mac mini. It’s a Mac, but it’s mini. Basically it’s a miniture Mac base unit. So… if you already have a PC with USB keyboard, mouse and DVI or VGA monitor, then you’ve got everything you need to get started. It starts at just �339! Flog a few more bits on eBay and I could be on my way to my first Mac.

Next up is the iPod shuffle, although I reckon a Capcom Streetfighter inspired tag of ‘Super iPod mini’ woulda worked just as well, then the 1Gb model coulda been called the ‘Super iPod mini turbo edition’.

The iPod shuffle does away with all the cleverness and keeps things simple. You load your tracks, it shuffles them. Not entirely sure how that might work out but it could be kinda cool I think, and for only �69 I could well bring myself to snap one up as soon as just for the hell of it. :)

Via Mirashade…

Mirashade is a progressive creative agency founded in 1994 specialising in Branding, Moving Image and New Media.

We�re looking for a Senior Graphic Designer to join our skilled design team.

We want someone creative who enjoys problem solving, accepts constructive criticism and has the initiative to use free time in a constructive manner to further our own brand.

You should be a good lateral thinker, able to work with others to deliver unique and exciting concepts transcending a diverse range of mediums.

If you’re interested, and you’re available to work at the Mirashade studio in Reading, Berkshire, UK… check out the Mirashade site.

Samuel Wan has posted some nice words regarding Fireworks as a UI sketching tool.

The Redesigned Mozilla site which was developed by silverorange went live yesterday.

Simple, clean and fresh.

Last night while searching for plots of land in berkshire I stumbled across the UK Land Directory and thought… hmm… I’ve seen this somewhere before… :?

Oh yes, this is where I saw it…

Correct me if I’m wrong (Which I don’t think I am), I reckon Shaun Inman has been pirated. :/

There’s something slightly odd about the new iMac. Something about the design just doesn’t feel… well… balanced I guess.

Usually when I hear that there’s a new piece of mac hardware I visit apple.com and make the appropriate ‘ooh’ and ‘aah’ noises, but this time it was more of a ‘oo…er… hmm’.

Maybe the new iMac just ‘looks’ un-balanced, maybe it’s just me… what do you think?

Drew has ‘refreshed’ his site with a new look and a slightly revamped structure.

If you don’t already frequent his blog then take a gander, not only does it look nice, but it reads well to. Nice work Drew. :)

After months of ‘trying’ to find the time we eventually ‘made’ the time here at Mirashade to re-vamp our site.

The initial designs were penned by Chris. I did some design development and then developed the XHTML and CSS using Homesite and TopStyle. Finally the site was deployed using Textpattern. We simply ran out of time to impliment our bespoke solution (Gubbins).

I’d love to hear your feedback and comments on any aspect of the design and implimentation. There are still some areas that need work, but we were keen to get the site ‘out there’.

Update: Mirashade.com is now featured in the CSS Vault and at CSS Beauty and Unmatched Style.

Reading my daily blogs I stumbled accross a fantastic entry by Cameron Moll (Authentic Boredom) regarding the 8 things he wish he’d known when he started out as a designer/developer. #1 on the list made me smile simply because it’s exactly what I do on a daily basis.

strong>Details a great designer maketh. If there�s one thing I�ve repeated over the course of my career more than anything else, it�s this simple philosophy: If you have time and talent to care for the smaller details, it almost always means you�ve already cared for the bigger details. Meaning, if you have time and talent to readjust the logo positioning 1px or 1pt to the left or right, it likely means you�ve already solidified usability, cross-browser compatibility, primary headline, and so on. I�m amazed by works that continue to impress as you dig deeper into the details.

Nice post Cameron. :)

After months of labour (not that kind) here at Mirashade we’ve finally done a soft launch of our latest baby; grownupgrren.

Drew and I have been hard at work on this for some time, and we’d really appreciate feedback, thoughts, comment, criticism, etc.

Of particular note is the admin system, which is glorious, but you can’t see that, so shortly I’ll post some screengrabs here for your delectation. :)

Jason kottke has done a re-design. The garish green lives on, but the cleanliness and simplicity has gone. Hey maybe it’s just in transition, but I think it kinda sucks. :?

What do you reckon?

Hmm… shall I, shan’t I (Is that a real word?)? The question is should I do a subtle re-design (As everyone is these days) and add some drop shadows to my currently ‘flat’ layout?

Opinions please. :)

Why is it that clients hate scrolling web pages? They seem to make the assumption that users don’t understand how to use a scrollbar, or will think that the content has simply ended mid flow.

I’m assuming that I’m not the only designer to be faced with this issue, how have you dealt with it in the past, and hey, do you prefer paging or scrolling…? Me.., I think scrolling is just fine.

Oh yes they do.

I think we’ve all noticed that Drop Shadows are making a resurgence on the web. Having discussed this issue with some work colleagues recently I was interested to come across a post on Yellowlane about this very subject.

I remember the very day I bought the first issue of Edge magazine, it was during a summer when I was working for my dad at his offices in Lower Earley. This particular lunchtime I walked up to the local supermarket and handed over my hard earned cash for what was to become one of the most respected video games publications of the nineties.

Early issues reported on upcoming consoles such as the ‘“3DO”:http://www.nerv.us/features.php?feature\_id=18’, ‘Sega Saturn’ and early rumours of a ‘“Sony”:http://www.playstation.co.uk’ games console. Edge magazine is still running today but I stopped collecting some time ago; I have issues 1 through to 107.

The question is, what on earth should I do with them? Try to flog them on e-bay, or box em up and keep them for the memories?

There’s a nice post on the hicksdesign journal regarding the re-design of the Mozilla Thunderbird logo which they’ve just completed.

Above are some of the original Thunderbird logo sketches which were done by Stephen DesRoches last December when he was working on the Firefox re-brand.

Take a gander at the post to see how these developed into the final icons.

It’s official, I have a footer fetish. I ‘like’ sites with nice footers. It’s been a bit of an ‘in joke’ here at the Mirashade studios for some time, but now I think I have to do something about it.

So.., I’m going to start compiling a list of sites with nice footers. Headers don’t count, I’m only into footers, although a good ‘header & footer’ combo can do the trick.

Help me on my way to recovery, point me in the direction of some footer goodness. Thanks.

Mirashade are a rapidly expanding, highly creative ‘media solutions’ company based in Reading, Berkshire (UK). We work in 2D, 3D, web, print, CD-ROM, DVD and Broadcast, so you’re sure to be kept busy with a broad range of dynamic and challenging projects.

We are currently looking for a new media developer with plenty of initiative and drive who can work as part of a team. Creative thinking coupled with an interest in current design issues is a must.

On a daily basis this role job would focus on supporting 2 new media developers and 2 graphic designers. The majority of work will be web based, although there is also the opportunity to work on CD-ROM based projects and as such experience in this field would be beneficial.

The ideal candidate will have at least 1 years commercial experience using HTML, CSS and JavaScript, and be happy to learn more about languages such as ActionScript and Lingo. Experience with the Macromedia Studio MX suite is an absolute must and a basic knowledge of Macromedia Director would be a plus.

Salary dependant on experience. If you’re interested, then email me at work:

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